


The House

by elizabeth_rice



Series: SBIGTTS Project [15]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, Canon - TV, Challenge Response, Drama, Short
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-02
Updated: 2019-07-02
Packaged: 2020-06-02 15:01:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19443838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elizabeth_rice/pseuds/elizabeth_rice
Summary: Working a crime scene is hard. Those involving kids is worse.





	The House

**Author's Note:**

> It’s a sort of fusion of TW/Criminal Minds. Written for FFW birthday bingo. My [card is here](https://fanfic-by-lizzy.dreamwidth.org/30645.html).
> 
> I’ve been watching a lot of true crime documentaries lately. It’s horrifying when parents can abuse and murder their own biological children but I think it’s worse when you learn how child services fail to save these kids when they have so many opportunities to do so. It was heart-breaking to me how few of these kids survive before somebody arrests the parents. I needed to express my emotions on the subject in some way, so I thought I’d write an article but honestly I can’t say anything that other journalists and bloggers haven’t said before. So when I saw this prompt, I came up with this story. Some of the details in this story are also inspired by a case that happened in my neighbourhood when I was a kid. A relative had discovered what was going on and rescued the kids, the mother had claimed to be ignorant of the abuse and the father never went to prison. Horrible case.
> 
> It was difficult for me to write and edit this story, so I’m not sure how clear it is. I’ll have to edit it another time. Also, I couldn’t think of any names that wasn’t reminding me of a real case, so I’ve not named any of the OCs. Hope nobody minds that.

“I did it. I did it,” she had said in a hushed voice, her eyes were staring blankly ahead as she slowly rocked herself back and forth.

She seemed to be in a state of shock, so they handcuffed her and put her in the back of one of the cop cars. Scott waved Stiles to go on as he knelt by the open door of the car.

Her two younger sisters and her aunt were standing outside the police barricade. They had given their statements earlier when they had reported one of the sisters missing. The aunt only had her suspicions. She had been unable to coax the whole truth out of her two eldest nieces. All she knew was that it had been their plan to get away, together. 

Stiles looked up at the house. It looked the same as the other houses in this neighbourhood. Old and worn but neat enough so no one would imagine that it was the scene of such oppression and misery.

Stiles took a deep breath and walked into the house. He went into the living room. It looked like any other living room of a typical family. A TV, three-seater couch, coffee table and a lazy boy with a foldable side table right next to it. Which probably belonged to the father. The room had been decorated with homey upholstery, a few knick-knacks but very few family pictures.

One showed a bride and groom, obviously the parents. Another was a family picture with the mother holding an infant. The third was of two of the girls outside in a park or somewhere. 

The dining room was sparsely decorated, which made Stiles wonder if the family ever ate together. 

As Stiles came back into the hallway, an officer came down the stairways and informed him that they had found another body in one of the bedrooms. Older female.

Probably the mother, Stiles thought as he went upstairs. 

Two of the bedrooms obviously belonged to the girls, although his only clues were the pink paint on the walls and some textbooks littered on the floor and other available surfaces. Though one of the rooms had a few children's drawings taped up to the walls, there were no posters or family pictures decorating the walls. Not even a mirror. A few participation trophies stood on top of bureaus but no other knick-knacks. Each bedroom had a queen-sized bed, no separate beds for the each girl. It seemed they shared. But what confused Stiles was that each room also a large futon under the beds. That's also where the quilt was folded up and placed. It now struck Stiles that there was also an absence of pillows.

Stiles turned to the last bedroom, which seemed to belong to the parents. Another queen-sized bed, side tables, bureau, wardrobe and dressing table with a mirror. The mother’s body was lying between the wardrobe and the bed. He was told that it looked like her death was caused by stabbing. 

He moved further in. One side of the dressing table had a few cologne bottles while the other had a few items of makeup.

Stiles noticed an address book on the table. He picked it up and leafed through it. Not many contacts listed in it, except family members, doctors. A few dates, probably appointments and a couple of grocery lists.

He went back to girls’s rooms and checked under mattresses and inside drawers for a diary. But it looked like none of the girls kept one. He next checked the doors, including the bathroom door (there was just one upstairs). Just as he thought, no locks.

As Stiles was going downstairs, Derek entered the house.

“The cadaver dogs here?”

Derek nodded, “We found a body buried behind the house. It's probably the missing girl.”

Stiles rubbed his hand over his face and nodded. He continued downstairs to join Lydia in the basement. Derek followed behind.

“It's not self-defence, is it?”

“No. But I don't doubt that it was retaliation for her sister.”

The basement was the gloomiest room in the house. Lit by one bare lightbulb, a little damp and musty. One side of the basement was being used as storage for old and broken furniture pieces and a lot of boxes and storage bins.

There was an old sunk-in couch in the corner and an upended wooden table on the other side. Next to that was the body of a much older male lying dead in a pool of his own blood. 

Lydia was standing next to the couch, watching something on the video recorder, while one officer held up a portable DVD player and another was going through a box of discs.

“We found some amateur movies made by this creep,” Lydia said.

Stiles noticed a few boxes had been opened and rummaged through.

“He's been doing this for a long time, Stiles. Even before the eldest daughter was born.”

“Have you spoken with Danny?”

“Yes, he's running a background check on the father.”

Her cellphone rang at that time. She handed Stiles the recorder to take the call. “It's Danny,” she said. “What have you found?”

“It's bad. His father had moved out when he was very young. There were a few men his mother dated. Not the kind of men who would get ‘Father of the Year’ rewards. Then after he turned twelve, there are numerous reports and accusations made against him. Neighbours accused him of being a peeping Tom, a younger cousin had complained of inappropriate behaviour when he was alone with her and similar accusations from other girls in the neighbourhood and their parents.”

“Why wasn't he charged and arrested?” Stiles asked.

“According to a social worker’s report, he was subjected to numerous beatings at home, most frequently by his own mother. And every time, he was in trouble, his mother would turn him out of the house and he’d disappear. They tried to find him but he would only return once the trouble had died down. 

“Then after he’d turned 20, it seems he left his home for good. There are few instances where he was fired for inappropriate behaviour at the workplace. Then, at 26, he met his wife. There's an interesting history there.”

“Tell us,” Derek said.

“She was only 14 at the time. Of course, her parents accused him of statutory rape once they’d discovered their relationship and had him charged. But later, the charges were dropped.”

“Guess that means she was telling us the truth.”

“Who was?” Lydia asked Stiles.

“The aunt. She said that their father had tried to have him arrested but she’d disappeared and threaten to kill herself if they didn't drop the charges.”

Lydia shook her head. “Thanks, Danny. Talk to you later.”

“Bye.”

“She also said that they’d eloped to Mexico to get married as she still underage. So they’d lied about her age there.”

“And the kids?”

“She doesn't know exactly what happened here, though she has her suspicions. She says that the two eldest came up with the plan for all four of them to leave. But the second-born had come back because she was afraid her parents would take the two younger ones back. When a day had passed and she hadn't returned, the aunt tipped off the police and child services.”

“And they didn't believe the aunt?”

“Child services didn't.”

“Poor thing,” Lydia said. “We have the evidence to prove that the girls were being abused. I believe the mother knew what was going on. What about the sister’s murder?”

“It was either revenge for daring to leave or a way to silence her and her sisters. Or a combination of both,” Derek said.

Stiles agreed with him. “I hope we can get a lighter sentence for the eldest girl. At the very least, we need to make sure the two youngest sisters can stay with their aunt till they are of age.”

“Agreed,” Lydia said. Derek nodded. Then the trio made their way upstairs.


End file.
